For the second time in three years, Park Ridge will consider whether to get most of its water from Evanston instead of Chicago. The city on Monday was invited to join Niles and Morton Grove in pursuing water from Evanston — a move officials from the Vernon Hills-based civil engineering firm Gewalt Hamilton Associates say could save Park Ridge $125 million over 30 years once new water mains are tapped. Geography is key to making this work, and "your location within the...

For the second time in three years, Park Ridge will consider whether to get most of its water from Evanston instead of Chicago. The city on Monday was invited to join Niles and Morton Grove in pursuing water from Evanston — a move officials from the Vernon Hills-based civil engineering firm Gewalt Hamilton Associates say could save Park Ridge $125 million over 30 years once new water mains are tapped. Geography is key to making this work, and "your location within the...

Will County's population of 640,000 is projected to more than double by 2050, and county water officials are scrambling to find a solution before one of their main water sources is sucked dry. Many of those new residents will have to rely on the Ironton-Galesville deep-water aquifer, a water source that's already being used beyond its capacity, said Howard Hamilton, water resources consultant for Will County. "That was the case in the 1970s and 1980s," Hamilton said. "But many...

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority on Monday signed a water-sharing agreement that includes the building of a desalination plant on the Gulf of Aqaba and a pilot study for a pipeline linking the Red Sea with the Dead Sea, the World Bank said. The agreement brings a long-awaited Red Sea-Dead Sea pipeline one step closer to completion. The plant will be built in the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba on...

Negotiations for a Waukegan water sale to Beach Park have frozen, and Beach Park has turned to Winthrop Harbor for a short-term solution to the village's water needs. Beach Park residents use well water. A Waukegan-Beach Park deal was ready for signing, but a rift developed over a commercial project Waukegan wanted near Waukegan Regional Airport on land that belongs to Beach Park. So Beach Park began talks with Winthrop Harbor, which uses less than 40 percent of its daily water...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is considering more than $100 million in extra government spending to handle contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, boosting the budget allocation by at least a fifth, government officials familiar with the matter said. The additional budget allocation of between 10 billion and 15 billion yen ($98 million-$147 million) aims to accelerate work on containing leaks and decontaminating the water, said...

I have a houseplant that I'm hoping you can help me save. I have had it for many years. I have transplanted it, thinking it might be getting rootbound, but even new leaves turn brown on the tips. Every so often, at the bottom of the plant, a whole leaf will turn brown and fall off. I don't believe I am overwatering the plant. Any advice? - Nancy Abrell Your plant is a Madagascar dragon tree (Dracaena marginata). This is an easy plant to care for indoors. It prefers to be kept...

Hoping to avoid the risk of losing their shot at Lake Michigan water, Lake Zurich officials are renewing discussions about joining up with a pipeline that would supply the town with the much-desired water source. Greg Gruen, a representative for the Manhard Consulting, the village's engineering firm, said the underground water source Lake Zurich currently uses is over capacity and may not be able to keep up with demands in the long run. He said the underground water...

Frankfort residents soon will receive a water source survey asking how the village might best approach the future of its water supply. A committee of citizens and officials decided recently that the village should distribute a survey "because we've had a lot of luck with surveys in the past," said Dick Reyburn, board member and head of the board's Executive Committee. The survey will offer residents four options, including sticking with the current water...

By Carey Gillam Aug 27 (Reuters) - A critical water source for U.S. farmers and ranchers is being depleted at a rapid rate and nearly 70 percent of it will disappear within the next 50 years if the current trend does not change, according to a report issued this week. Thirty percent of the groundwater from a critical portion of what is known as the High Plains Aquifer already has been pumped and another 39 percent will be depleted over the...

As one of the fastest-growing cities in Illinois, Joliet is digging ever deeper into its water source--an aquifer running from Wisconsin through the south suburbs--to meet demand, which has some planners calling for a more regional look at how water is being used. Scientists are unsure of the capacity of the deep sandstone aquifer, leading to fears that population growth in communities from Joliet to Aurora and Crystal Lake may be draining the aquifer's water faster than it is replaced...

* Egypt fears project will affect main water source * Leaders filmed urging hostile action against Ethiopia * Analysts have warned Nile disputes could trigger war CAIRO, June 5 (Reuters) - Egypt will demand Ethiopia stop building a dam on one of the main tributaries of the Nile, a senior government aide said on Wednesday, ramping up a confrontation over the project that Egypt fears will affect its main source of water. Ethiopia set off alarm bells in Cairo...

Spending $254,000 on four new generators and relocating a fifth would allow all Glen Ellyn village facilities to weather any type of power outage, David Cox, assistant to the village administrator, said this week. "Today, we can only function at a reduced level," he said. A natural gas scare several years ago, resulting in a widespread evacuation, along with sporadic power outages at the Civic Center, prompted the formation of an emergency preparedness task force. The Civic Center houses the...

I have a houseplant that I'm hoping you can help me save. I have had it for many years. I have transplanted it, thinking it might be getting rootbound, but even new leaves turn brown on the tips. Every so often, at the bottom of the plant, a whole leaf will turn brown and fall off. I don't believe I am overwatering the plant. Any advice? - Nancy Abrell Your plant is a Madagascar dragon tree (Dracaena marginata). This is an easy plant to care for indoors. It prefers to be kept...

Trustees will ask Clark Dietz and Associates, the consulting firm that prepared the original Lake Michigan water study for Mokena, New Lenox and Frankfort, to submit a proposal outlining the cost of applying for a Lake Michigan water allocation from the Illinois Department of Transportation. The proposal to pay for a pipeline to Lake Michigan was approved by voters in an advisory referendum Nov. 8. Trustees said they wanted to poll voters before spending additional money in the pursuit of a...

(Fixes typo) By Julie Mollins STOCKHOLM, Sept 3 (Reuters) - When environmental engineer John Feighery got an internship at NASA in the 1990s, he wanted to be an astronaut but he was given a job working with a team designing the U.S. bathroom for the space station. The small, closet-like space needed a toilet and room for hand washing, bathing and a place to keep toiletries. Feighery also worked on a project to fix equipment designed for ...

An international journalism freedom group called Friday for the release of a jailed reporter who exposed corruption among officials in central China. Gao Qinrong was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment after he reported in 1998 that an irrigation system in Yuncheng city, in Shanxi province, was actually a scam built to promote local leaders' reputations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Gao reported that the system's 67,000 water tanks were not connected to a water...

The City Council on Tuesday approved an emergency authorization to immediately water about 1,800 trees on some of the city's main streets and boulevards. Administrators, citing drought conditions, proposed spending $15,000 to hire a contractor, which will use its own water source instead of tapping into the city's water system. It could cost $250 to replace a tree, officials said. "The trees are starting to get into a dangerous situation," said Councilman Joe Shetina. "It is a prudent...